Stay With You
by The Great Aerosmith
Summary: In a world that marks a soul mate and a time of death for you, what would you do if you found your soul mate, and they only had a year to live? When Finn Hudson meets Rachel Berry, his soulmate, he wants to spend her last year together. But Rachel pushes him away, refusing to get involved with someone when she's about to die. Finn won't give up that easily, but can he convince her?
1. Introduction

_What if you knew what the first thing your soul mate would say to you before they said it? What if that word, or sentence, or whatever, was etched onto you skin, there forever. Some soul mates meet when they're kids, when they're barely understood what it meant. Others met when they're close to death, and they spend what little time left together. But most met in their early twenties. And sometimes its not love at first sight. Actually, from what I've heard, I don't think it ever is. _

_My parent's certainly didn't get along right away. _

_They met at a bar when my dad was on leave from the marines. My mom was studying to be a nurse. They both went out for a night of fun, and my dad was drunk and trying to hit on my moms friend. Now, my moms friend was engaged, and my dad decided to ignore this and kept harassing her. So my mom turned to him and said "Get it through your head, she's found her forever." To which my dad replied "Say that again." And, of course, both of these were tattooed on them, on my mom's hand and on my dad's leg. Apparently, my mom just shook her head and left in disbelief. She though dad was some kind of douche. But the next day, my dad started his quest to win her over. It took a year, but it worked. They married and had me._

_Sadly, it wasn't happily ever after. See, along with the first words your soul mate says, people are born with a timer on their arm. This timer counts down to the day you die. Obviously it doesn't tell you why you die, and there's no real way to beat it. I've heard of a few people who didn't die right away, and got a few more months with their loved ones. But it's worse than knowing, not knowing, because you could drop dead at any time. It's actually easier for everyone to expect it._

_My dad had until he was thirty five. So one day, when I was two, my dad left the house. He didn't want me and my mom to go through finding his body. My mom begged him to spend his last few hours with us and my new born brother Scott, but my dad said no. He went to a hotel, and called my mom ten minutes before he died. We talked to him on the phone, my mom crying. I had a little understanding of what was going on, but I wasn't ready to hear my dad's words stop, a hushed goodbye, and a thud. I cried for a week and a half. My mom still hasn't stopped crying._

_Fast forward 19 years. I'm twenty one, a firefighter in New York City. My clock says I'll live until sixty six, but everyone one says with how recklessly I act towards running into a fire, I'll be lucky to make it to twenty six. But nobody dies before they're supposed to. That brings me comfort._

_I live with my girlfriend, Quinn Fabray. We're not soul mates, but we do love each other. Quinn says we don't have to actually listen to this whole soul mate thing, because anybody can see what's written on you and repeat it back when they see you. Quinn and I do that. Every morning, she wakes up and asks me if I can get her kitten. That's what's written on my chest. And to her, I tell her she can take me to court any day. That's wrapped around her ankle. But it makes no sense. That's how you know. The response has to make sense. At least I think so._

_I love Quinn. I do. But I wonder what would happen if I met my soul mate. Would I just shrug it off and stay with Quinn? Or would I be so drawn to this person that I end things? Because that's the only way I'd end things. If it was love at first sight. Or words. I don't know. At least right now I don't. Mom says I'll figure things out soon. _

_I hope she's right._

* * *

So this is a short little introduction to the story. It's not first person, just this part. But it is Finn's point of view. I got the idea from a few of those soul mate theories, and I'm really excited for this. I hope you guys like it.


	2. Chapter 1

_I'll stay with you_

_The walls will fall before we do_

_Take my hand now_

_We'll run forever_

_I can feel the storm inside you_

_I'll stay with you_

* * *

Finn ran his finger over his chest, carefully tracing each letter neatly printed on his skin. It was hard to do, since he was looking at the question upside down, but he tried his best to have his pointer run over each cursive letter. He stopped at the dot under the question mark and sighed a little.

"Can you get my kitten?" Finn looked over his shoulder at his girlfriend, and smiled a little. Quinn wrapped her arms around his chest, putting her chin down on Finn's shoulder. She smiled back a him, flipping some blonde hair out of her eyes. "Well?"

"You can take me to court any day." Finn whispered back, kissing her cheek. They decided long ago that this would be the first thing they said to each other each morning, or if they hadn't seen each other in a while. Since it couldn't be the very first thing they said to each other. Quinn wanted to cheat it. And Finn didn't feel too comfortable with it, deep down at least.

Quinn laughed a bit and looked down at Finn's button up shirt on his lap "Come on, Santana's party is in an hour. You're barely dressed." Quinn let go of him and crawled off the bed, walking to the vanity across the room.

Finn watched as Quinn put a bright red lipstick on, and glanced down at her feet. She hadn't put on her heels, and he could see the words written just above her right foot, looking like an anklet. She hid it from everyone, so worried that someone would lie to her. Finn understood why.

Quinn's mother had hers tattooed just below her wrist, and never tried to hide it. She'd even flash her tattoo to strangers, either on purpose or accident. And Quinn's father had seen it, and walked up to her mother, with all intentions to lie. They were married a few months later. It wasn't until Quinn was sixteen did the truth come out in a rather nasty fight between her parents.

Before that day, Quinn flashed her tattoo all the time too. Then she started covering it up. She wouldn't tell anyone, not even her friends. She wouldn't even tell anybody what her mothers said. The only reason Finn knew Quinn's was because she showed it to him within the first few months of their relationship. What was the point of hiding it?

Quinn sat down and grabbed her heels, slipping them on. The straps of the heels just hid the tattoo, the only thing showing was the word 'me'. Quinn started to brush her blonde curls when she noticed Finn watching her through the mirror "Finn, I'm not kidding. Put your shirt on and let's go."

"Right, sorry." Finn took the red shirt, and white undershirt, and quickly put them on. He peeked down at his own tattoo and wondered if the two of them would ever meet their soul mate, or if they'd live a lie like her parents.

Even though Santana's party was supposed to start by the time they go there, it was already in full swing. Finn had to elbow his way through a few people to get Quinn and himself to where the drinks were. In front of the drinks was Quinn's friend Santana Lopez, and someone Finn had never seen before. He looked a bit shorter than him, but more muscular, and had a Mohawk. Finn glanced at Quinn, who just shrugged as they walked over. "Hey 'Tana, nice party."

Santana turned around and gave the couple a smile "Thanks, Finnocence." Santana said, handing him and Quinn some beers. She looked over at her friend beside her and put a hand on his arm. "This is Puckerman, he moved in next door."

div class="post_body" style="text-align: left;"Finn nodded and put an arm around Quinn's shoulder's "Hey man, I'm Finn. This is Quinn."

""Nice to meet you man." 'Puckerman' said, grinning a bit "And Puckerman's my last name. Just call me Puck."

"Alright, Puck."

""Finny boy here is a fireman. If his clock didn't give him another forty five years, he may not actually be here." Santana laughed. "And Quinnie is still in school. She's going to be a lawyer"

Puck looked at Finn's blonde girlfriend, and Finn watched as this new guy openly checked her out. He clenched his jaw a little, but didn't say anything. Puck looked at Quinn with a flirtatious smile and nodded in approval "You can take me to court any day."

Santana rolled her eyes and smacked Puck in the chest. Finn felt Quinn stiffen though. He looked down at her, he too tense. She looked up at Finn, and the two looked at Quinn's foot. There was no way he saw the words, even if Quinn wasn't wearing her heels. They looked back at Santana and Puck, who were back into a conversation they were having before. Quietly, the two walked away.

It was a few hours before Finn saw Puck again. Quinn had gone off to say hi to some of her friends, and Finn was getting a drink for his friend Mercedes. Puck walked up and patted Finn's shoulder. Finn looked over and smiled at the guy "Hey there."

"Hey, you two ran off pretty quickly. Something I said?" Puck asked, leaning against the table.

Finn shook his head. "Nah, we just saw some friends." Finn half lied. They did see Finn's friend Tina after all. "You having a good time?" He asked, looking to change the subject.

"Yeah, pretty good night. I had to drag my roomie to come, and I think she's ditched me already though." Puck said, scanning the crowd "She'd rather spend time with her fucking cat than hang out with people. Something is wrong with that girl." Puck shook his head and grabbed a beer "I think I need to drag her back over here."

Finn smiled a little "You need help? We can carry her and toss her inside."

Puck chuckled "Yeah, alright. Let's do it."

The guys left, Finn giving Mercedes her drink as they walked out, and made their way around the party-goers who brought it out the the hall. Like the landlord wouldn't show up and have a fit. Finn stood next to Puck as he unlocked a door labeled 6J, and saw words crawling up the back of his neck. Finn leaned a bit to get a better look, when he heard Puck laugh a little.

"That's not it."

"Huh?"

"That's not the first thing my 'soul mate'" Puck stopped unlocking the door to put air quotes around the words "is going to say me. It's a quote from Schindler's List. I got it to respect my jewness"Puck unlocked the door and stepped in "Honestly though, this whole fate and soul mate thing is bull shit. I mean, I'm sure you and Quinn are soul mates and all, but it's ridiculous."

Finn shook his head as he stepped in "We're not soul mates. We're just together."

Puck raised an eyebrow "Really. I didn't think many people still did that." He shut the door and crossed his arms "Rachel, where are you?"

A small kitten ran out of a bedroom door, rubbing it's face against Puck. Out of the same room came out a petite brunette girl, her pretty dark eyes looking between Finn and Puck. "Noah, what are you doing? Who is this?"

Puck smirked "This is Finn. We're bring you back to the party."

Rachel groaned "Noah, I told you I don't want to be there. Barbara and I are having fun watching Funny Girl."

"That sounds sad and boring." Puck said, opening the door "Finn, pick her up. We're carrying her."

Finn just laughed and and walked over to Rachel, lifting her up over his shoulder as she yelled at Puck. Before Finn could get to the door, Rachel's kitten Barbara ran out.

"Oh shit, come back!" Puck yelled, watching the cat race down the hall past the people "Shit!"

"She's scared! Noah! Where did she go?" Rachel squirmed in Finn's arms, trying to face him. She managed to get off Finn's shoulders, and instead was just pressed against him, still in his arms, about a foot off the ground. She looked to the door and sigh before looking back at Finn "Can you get my kitten?"

And then he dropped her.


End file.
